New Competition for Lower Leagues

By Kuvee Kangueehi WINDHOEK After the recent cup competitions which have exposed the huge gap between the Namibia Premier League and the first and second divisions, the Hansa Pilsner Cup was officially launched yesterday in the capital and is most likely to address the problem. The N$500 000 competition, which is being sponsored by Namibia Breweries under the brand name Hansa, is the first to give an opportunity to lower division teams to compete for the big cups. The recently played cup competitions, which pitted Namibia Premier League teams against first division teams, proved not to be competitive as the clubs in the top flight demolished the lower teams with high scores. The results were a great concern to some football officials who felt that more needs to be done to bridge the gap. The elimination round of the unique competition will kick-start this weekend in all thirteen regions of the country while the semi-finals of the elimination round will continue in the first weekend of February. For the Northern Stream First Division the matches will be played at the Omulunga Stadium in Grootfontein, while the Caprivi Second Division matches will be played at the Katima Mulilo Sport Complex Stadium. In the Southern Stream First Division, the matches will be played at the Reho Stadium in Rehoboth while the Kavango Second Division will play their matches at the Rundu Sport Stadium. The Ohangwena Sport Stadium will host the matches for the Ohangwena Second Division. Hansa will be giving N$2 000 to all the administrators in the thirteen regions for the elimination rounds in the second division. The winners of the elimination rounds in the second division will receive prize money of N$3 500 in all thirteen regions while the runners-up will get N$1 500 each. For the first divisions the administrators will receive an amount of N$5 000 while the winners and the runners-up in the elimination of the first division will walk away with N$7 000 and N$3 250 respectively. In the actual competition the winner will get N$90 000, the runner-up N$40 000, and third place and fourth place N$20 000. Each team travelling will also be assisted with N$1000.